Thursday, October 18, 2018

According to Financial Express, Wadia Group-promoted budget airline GoAir’s plan to largely be an Airbus A320neo fleet airline seems to have suffered a setback as the airline’s discussions with start-up Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways to sub-lease its A320ceo aircraft have fallen through, a source said.

The airline was in discussion with the Vietnamese carrier, which has delayed its October launch, for sub-leasing nine of its A320ceo aircraft type. GoAir, with a fleet of 41 aircraft — a mix of both A320neos and A320ceos — had earlier said that it was weighing options of either sub-leasing its A320ceos or returning the lease of 16-17 of the A320ceos in its fleet.

“We are looking at whether we should be keeping the A320ceos on board or return the leases as they are 20% more expensive than the A320neos. We are looking at the sub-leasing options for the A320ceo fleet as well,” GoAir CEO Cornelis Vrieswijk had told the media earlier in August. The airline plans adding 13 A320neo aircraft to its fleet by March 2019. A deal with Bamboo Airways could not be consummated as GoAir was pricing its A320ceos much higher than the existing market rate, a source said.
17/10/18 TravelBizMonitor